BRENTFORD v BURY – Pick: 1 – 07 April 2012

Bees look to bury visiting Shakers

Brentford take on lowly Bury at Griffin Park in search of a fifth successive win which could take them to within reach of the play-off pack as they make a late bid for promotion contention.

The Bees have won their last four on the trot with wins over Rochdale, Preston NE, MK Dons and Oldham Athletic, while at home they’ve lost just once in their last ten in front of their home faithful which was no disgrace, going down 0-2 to Sheffield United.

However, good wins over Wycombe 5-2, Carlisle United 4-0 and 2-0 wins over Exeter City, Rochdale and Oldham have improved their home record which now stands at 9-5-6 35/22, with striker Clayton Donaldson (9 goals) and midfielder Sam Saunders (7 goals) the main goal threats, along with both players supplying 11 and 7 assists respectively also.

McGinn and Douglas have also provided goals and assists and Brentford will no doubt fancy their chances of securing another home win against the visitors this afternoon.

Bury travel south on the back of a 2-0 home win over Tranmere Rovers last weekend and will be looking to build upon this rare win and pull away from the danger of relegation. However, that win was their only victory in their last fourteen matches and this poor run means they’re not out of the woods yet.

Bury’s away record stands at 6-3-11 25/39, and it’s no wins in their last eight on the road with the Shakers at the end of some heavy defeats such as 0-3 at Rochdale, 1-4 at Sheffield Wednesday and 1-4 at Carlisle United.

Perhaps no surprise then that they possess the third worst goals conceded tally in League One behind only to Wycombe Wanderers (42 goals) and Chesterfield (41 goals). Bishop (8 goals) and Schumacher (6 goals, 5 assists) are the main threats along with Peter Sweeney (4 goals, 8 assists) and David Amoo, but it seems the recent trend is that Bury are capable of scoring but tend to concede at least one more.

Brentford are on a roll at the moment and really should account for a poor travelling Bury side to maintain their play-off push; I’ll back The Bees for a 2-0 home win here.